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Dan’s Fund donate vital machine to Pinderfields Burn Centre

The Burn Centre at Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield, was recently presented with a brand new state-of-the-art Laser Doppler Imager, by the national burns charity Dan’s Fund for Burns.

The Laser Doppler Imager, which was donated by the Charity, is able to measure how deeply a burn has penetrated the skin of a patient without causing pain or discomfort.

The machine is able to predict the potential time a burn will take to heal, which not only aids Burns and Plastic Surgery Consultants in the treatment of burns, but also provides reassurance for patients, in knowing that technology is able to back up the clinical decisions that are made.

Pinderfields Hospital has both a Regional Adults’ Burn Centre and a Regional Children’s Burn Unit, which serve a population of approximately 3.5 million people across West Yorkshire, North and East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire. The service is accessed by 19 Emergency Departments in an area of around 3,000 square miles.

Plastic Surgery Consultant, Mr Umair Anwar said: “We are extremely grateful to Dan’s Fund for Burns for donating this important piece of equipment to our Unit, where it will play such a useful role in the treatment of our patients.

“This equipment will help to reassure our patients regarding their treatment, and help us with clinical research in the future to further understand severe burn injuries and new treatments. This state of the art device will enable us to diagnose and treat patients more accurately, with improved recovery and outcomes, in many cases without surgery.”

The Burn Care Service admits approximately 250-300 patients every year, often with major and life-threatening burns, and 1,800 outpatients (including outreach services).

The machine is used to carry out a Laser Doppler scan, which is a painless non-invasive test. It measures blood flow in the skin by reflecting low-energy laser light off circulating blood cells. The equipment is able to predict a potential healing time, as long the healing process is unaffected by problems such as infection or other medical problems.

Dan's Fund for Burns, is a registered UK Charity established by Polly Brooks (Miller), after her husband Dan, best friend and seven other friends were killed in the 2002 Bali bombings. Polly was badly burned herself and learned at first hand just how painful and devastating, both physically and emotionally it is to be receive a burn injury. On return to the United Kingdom Polly found no support for Adult Burn Survivors so established the Charity.

The main aim of the Dan’s Fund for Burns, is to identify individuals with burns who are most in need of help and provide it in a swift and practical way.

Polly Brooks, Director of Dan’s Fund for Burns, said; “We at Dan's Fund are delighted to purchase this Laser Doppler machine for Pinderfields Hospital - this is an expensive, but vital piece of equipment which helps to reduce the amount of unnecessary surgery and in the long term improves the outcome for the burns patient."

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